The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of a stable food product from milk components with the use of phosphates.
In the dairy industry, skim milk, whey powder, butter or butter fat and butter oil are increasingly obtained as surplus products, with the marketing thereof often being difficult. There is need for a process to convert these surplus products into a stable form suitable for consumption.
The preparation of food products on the basis of dry milk components without the use of microorganisms has been known for a long time. The starting materials which may be considered for the purpose are milk fat, casein, caseinate, skim milk powder, whey protein, whey powder, vegetable fats, binders, emulsifiers and emulsifying salts.
Heretofore, attempts were made to produce food products from the above-cited group of raw materials in the following ways:
1. by establishing a very high fat content by means of high proportions of milk fat, thus obtaining high-fat spreadable masses having a cream spread like consistency; PA1 2. using in addition to emulsifying salts, emulsifiers and special binders; PA1 3. using vegetable fats, which are more readily emulsified in recombined products than milk fats; and PA1 4. establishing an extremely high casein or caseinate proportion in the dry matters. PA1 (a) the mixture to be heated is brought to 95.degree. C. in a melting kettle at an agitator velocity of 120 rpm with direct steam within 15 minutes, homogenized at 300 atm and filled into a mold. PA1 (b) In a high velocity melting cutter, the mixture to be heated is brought to 95.degree. C. within 6 minutes with an agitator velocity of 1,500 rpm, with direct steam, stirred for 3 minutes at 3,000 rpm and subsequently filled into a mold.
These products in most cases yield fatty sandwich spreads, while a product according to 4. is classified as a processed or soft cheese substitute.
Thus, for example, in DE-OS No. 23 51 035 there is disclosed a sweet, sliceable sandwich covering, containing as essential components approximately 5-30 weight % triglycerides, approximately 5-25 weight % sodium caseinate, up to approximately 3 weight % Na.sub.3 HP.sub.2 O.sub.7, up to approximately 2 weight % mono- and diglycerides, approximately 10-40 weight % sugars and up to 50 weight % water or aqueous liquids. To prepare such a sandwich covering, the triglycerides and emulsifiers are melted together at approximately 50.degree.-70.degree. C., emulsified with an appropriate amount of water and subsequently mixed with the rest of the solids, whereupon the mixture is converted into a homogeneous mass with agitation and heating to approximately 60.degree.-80.degree. C. and placed into a mold for cooling.
Further, in DE-OS No. 28 08 303 there are described a cheese substitute food product and a process for the preparation thereof, whereby a product is obtained containing 25-65 weight % rennet casein, 7.55 weight % of a hydrogenated vegetable oil, 2-12 weight % of a solvating agent based on a citrate or phosphate and suitable flavoring agents and spices, respectively. Such a product is prepared by mixing the components and subsequently heating them to 66.degree.-140.degree. C.
The processes known heretofore begin with a mixture which contains either a relatively high proportion of rennet casein or uses vegetable oil in place of milk fat with the addition of emulsifiers based on mono- or diglycerides, together with thickeners, in order to obtain a homogeneous product of the consistency desired.